Heroic Rivals
by Mr. D 91
Summary: Set after DL. A new group of heroes have come to Solana. Qwark is shocked when he finds out that the leader happens to be the guy who always beat him at everything during their youth. [Chapter 2: Ready for action.]
1. New Heroes

**Author's note: **'Sup? I've had this idea cooked up inside my noggin for quite some time now. I just had to take time off my other story and write this one (it's gonna be much shorter).

Enjoy this chapter, cuz there are obviously more to come. Huzzah!

P.S.: I actually had to switch my PS2 on, and go to the Ratchet: Deadlocked skins, in order to describe a character's looks! Can you guess who that character is?

* * *

**CHAPTER 1: NEW HEROES**

"Pay attention, Ratchet," Captain Qwark shook a remote at the frustrated lombax as he stood in front of the Bridge's biggest screen. "This is important."

"I'm sure it is, Qwark," Ratchet said sarcastically with a role of his green eyes, resting on one leg with his arms crossed. He was dressed in his old school clothing; green trousers, brown gloves, chest belt, and aviator's cap.

Helga stood on his left, and Al and Skidd on his right. All were waiting patiently for the presentation.

"Ahem," Qwark cleared his throat as Skrunch climbed on his left shoulder, "if you would direct your attention to this screen, I'll be happy to tell you what will be transpiring in the near future."

"Get on with it, Qwark. I was supposed to visit Clank at the Studios today."

"Why? I'm sure he's fine, Ratchet," Qwark couldn't have cared lass.

"You won't be if you don't get on with it right now," Ratchet muttered, but made his voice heard.

Qwark glared at him, his eyes turning into two semicircles as he furrowed his brow. He aimed behind him, and pressed the biggest button on the remote.

_Click._

The screen behind him came to life with a badly-drawn crayon image. This image was of a factory--complete with loop-de-loop smoke from horribly designed chimneys--surrounded by snow.

"This factory belongs to Professor Brain, and--"

"'Professor Brain'?" Ratchet raised an eyebrow, interrupting Qwark's talk.

Qwark took a second to process that he had been stopped. "Yes," he said with a fake smile, "'Professor Brain'. Now, let me finish."

"It just sounds a little unproductive," the lombax pointed out.

"…..," Qwark just stared at him.

Ratchet sighed. "Never mind," he said. "Go on."

"Gladly--The factory is situated on Planet Hoven, and is home to the deadliest sorts of diabolical machinery."

_Click._

A childish picture of an angry stick figure holding a R.Y.N.O. displayed itself onscreen.

"He's your average villain. Evil."

_Click._

A red smiley face with frowning eyebrows and a big, cartoonish grin took up the whole screen.

"Intelligent."

"Unlike some people…"

"What was that, Ratchet?"

"Nothing."

_Click._

A stick figure with a big brain, surrounded by several symbols of pi.

"And he had a rough childhood, which forced him to become evil."

_Click._

A crayon-styled image of Qwark giving a screaming lad a weggie.

"Furthermore--"

"Question," Ratchet had his gloved hand raised.

Qwark sighed, allowing his arms to drop, "I thought I told you to wait until I was finished."

"This'll only take a second. I was just wondering," the lombax rubbed his chin. He took a deep breath before saying all at once, "Are you the reason this guy's so evil and probably trying to screw up the galaxy just like Dr. Nefarious did, only to result in ME having to go and risk my butt out there in trying to defeat him while you claim all the glory and fame afterwards?" He inhaled deeply afterwards.

"What's your point?" Qwark cocked an eyebrow.

"Hmm, I detected a few errors in that run-on," Al whispered to Skidd.

"Well, it's--OW!" Ratchet was smacked in the back of the head by an annoyed Helga.

"Shut up!" she hollered. "Can't yoo zee that Qvark is trying to tell uss ov de villain'z evilness?!?!"

"Ugh, fine," Ratchet angrily rubbed his head. "I'll shut up now. Go on, Qwark."

"Will do, Ratchet," Qwark smirked. "Anywho, our sources say the Professor's planning something big for the galaxy, something like a doomsday weapon, I think. I don't like the sound of that, sooo…."

_Click._

An image of Ratchet with an arrow pointing at a brown square, which was most probably Professor Brain's base of operations.

"….Ratchet will infiltrate the base undetected. There, he will find the factory's mainframe computer……"

_Click._

A crayon computer with '2+25' in its centre.

"…and, using a special bomb, destroy it!"

_Click._

The word 'BOOM!' appeared, surrounded by a comic-styled explosion.

"Okay, I'm done," Qwark said as he switched the bid screen off. "Any questions?"

Ratchet raised his hand.

Qwark signed, "Yes?"

"……..on second thought, never mind," Ratchet lowered his hand, ahaving changed his mind. "I already know you'll all be doing absolutely jack. I might as well go, and have you claim all the glory. AGAIN."

"That's the spirit!" Qwark walked over, and gave Ratchet a hard slap on the back, almost causing him to fall forward. "The base is usually covered in snow, but a set system clears the snow every other day. I chose today, because the snow was cleared yesterday."

Ratchet nodded with his arms crossed.

"And now," Qwark went on, "my associates, Al and Skrunch, will be giving you everything you need for this dangerous mission."

"Here you go, Ratchet," Al handed Ratchet a data pad with his bionic limb, "this device contains the coordinates to the base on Planet Hoven. And this," he handed Ratchet a black sphere with a single button, "is the bomb you'll be using to detonate the base. Just press the button and you'll have precisely ten minutes to escape. Good luck." He gave a metallic thumb's up.

"Thanks," Ratchet pocketed the pad.

Skrunch climbed down from Qwark's shoulder, and handed Ratchet a piece of paper. When the lombax opened it, he was greeted by a crudely-drawn map of what he assumed to be the interior of the base he had to destroy.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Skidd exclaimed. He fished in his uniform, and pulled out a pair of blue earmuffs. "Take these, bro!" he eagerly gave the item to Ratchet. "It's gonna be cold over there, so keep toasty, ya dig?"

"No need," Ratchet answered. "I've been to Hoven before; I can handle the cold."

"Not quite," Qwark stated, shaking a missive green finger. "This part of the planet is extremely cold; even colder than the bomb factory you destroyed in your first adventure."

"What he said, dude," Skidd tried to hoax Ratchet to take the earmuffs by shaking them, as if they were food.

"Thanks, Skidd," Ratchet said flatly, examining the earmuffs, "but I can just use my armour to keep me warm."

"Sorry," Qwark stepped in again, shaking his head. "Due to a mishap involving Skrunch, Skidd, and chocolate pudding, all of your belongings have been taken away for cleaning."

There was a pause.

"………………..what?" Ratchet asked incredulously.

"It's true," Qwark nodded. "They--"

"Again--I don't want to know," Ratchet waved him off. He took the earmuffs, turned, and made for the exit. "See you guys in about two hours."

"See ya, dude!"

"Make Professor Brain wish that he had never been conceived!"

"Und giv hiim a good tvisting, too!"

"I hope my slideshow helped you understand what you'll be up against out there!"

"Ooh aahhhhh aa-aa-aa-aa-aa-aa-aaaaaaaahh oooooh!"

* * *

Ratchet grumbled to himself. 

"Make me risk my life out there…"

He arrived at his ship. The vessel's lid opened automatically.

"….in the cold…."

The lid closed after he jumped in.

"…with these stupid earmuffs...," he glared at them, and threw them into the passenger's seat.

He took out the data pad, and plugged it into the ship's computer.

_"Coordinates to 'Evil base of Professor Brain' acquired," _said the helpdesk girl's voice.

Ratchet pressed random buttons.

"……I'm the ship's Captain, for Pete's sake…"

The ships' thrusters powered up.

He pressed more buttons.

The hip hovered, turned, and flew out the hatch, which had opened as it sensed Ratchet's ship ready to leave.

* * *

A few minutes later, Ratchet had entered Hoven's atmosphere, and was following the coordinates' directions. 

Within minutes, he found it the headquarters.

"Hmm, looks exactly like Qwark's diagram," Ratchet said to himself.

The mysterious Professor Brain's stronghold was located in a deep canyon. Thick blankets of snow covered a questionable portion of the base, but the fortress could still be seen. A set of chimneys spewed forth plumes of black smoke.

The lombax wondered why an evil genius would build a base that could give its location away. Chimneys spewed forth smoke endlessly, and Qwark said that the snow that covered the base was cleared regularly. The smoke and the cleaning would leave the base noticeable to nearby life forms. Professor Brain must have been confident that if anyone tried to take him out, they would be dispatched with minimal difficulty. Then, again, the base's location on the planet was just too secluded to be found without coordinates.

Ratchet just wanted to get the job done and visit Clank.

He contemplated landing a few yards away from the structure, swing-shooting his way to the top, nitro erupting through the ceiling, and fighting his way to the control room where he would execute the final phase of the plan, before charge booting and walloping his way out before the base exploded.

Unfortunately, Ratchet couldn't think further; the second he set the ship's guidance system for landing, three compartments opened in random parts of the base and sent forth several mini-missiles. The projectiles made contact with the vessel, exploding in bright bursts of light.

"DAAH!" Ratchet shouted in surprise as his vessel rocked from side-to-side.

More missiles flew, each one hitting the ship dead on.

Ratchet panicked, and hit the button that would activate the ship's warp system. He wasn't quick enough, as the illegally-installed mechanism was destroyed by another projectile.

"Nnngh!" Ratchet growled, pulling hard on the joystick. "Qwark didn't say anything about this!"

He was literally out of control. The base's defences ceased fire, knowing that the intruder was as good as dead.

"Hhh-rrrrrrrrn!!!" Ratchet pulled again.

The ship's vertical fall eased to a diagonal one. It barely scraped the canyon's jagged wall.

"AAAUGHH!" Ratchet hacked, and he lurched into his seatbelt after his busted ship hit the snow.

It didn't stop there; the ship bounced, spun, and skidded some more before finally coming to a slow stop near another snow-covered hill.

…

…

…

…

The second the ship's crippled nose touched the hill, a truckload of snow fell and buried half of the vessel.

Ratchet heaved a sigh, "How can this possibly get any worse?"

**PHWOOOMB! **The ship's airbags inflated in his face.

"……I had to ask."

* * *

"Brrrrr!" Ratchet hugged himself as the hatch door opened. His tail curled around one of his legs. "Of-f-f-f all-ll-ll-ll th-th-th-e t-t-times f-for m-my armour n-n-ot to b-b-be-e-e here…." 

He glanced at the earmuffs Skidd had given him. They sat comfortably in the passenger's seat.

Ratchet rubbed his hands together for warmth, "Skidd-dd-dd, y-you h-h-had better kn-kn-know what y-y-you're d-doing." He reached in, grabbed the earmuffs, and placed them on his pointy ears.

Instantly, his body temperature rose to optimum. It was beyond Ratchet why simply covering a portion of his ears was enough to keep him toasty. He didn't question it; he was now comfortable and ready for action.

"I never doubted him for a second," the lombax told himself, his cheeks flushing from the warmth. He pulled out his wrench, and started to walk towards the base. "Time to get to work. Hopefully, those missile-launchers were just for the air and won't blast me to smitheree--"

The base exploded in a great ball of fire, showering shrapnel all over the place. Ratchet hissed, and shielded his eyes from the spontaneous explosion's brightness. In his peripheral vision, he could see the remains of a sentry-bot plummeting towards him. He huffed, and back-flipped out of the way, letting the body hit the snow.

"What the heck just happened?!" he exclaimed to himself, gawking at the remains of the base _he_ was supposed to destroy.

The flames were being quickly extinguished by the endless snow. However, the snow could not extinguish Ratchet's annoyance.

The lombax half-heartedly expected someone to come out of nowhere and tell him that he had been Punk'd and that there were hidden cameras everywhere.

He held his wrench over his shoulder, "Mission accomplished……I guess."

He was about to turn around and try to fix his ship, when a tiny glint in the sky caught his eye. It was difficult to tell what it was, due to all the rising smoke in the way. He narrowed his eyes.

The glint turned out to be a ship as it seemed to grow closer at alarming speeds…

"……!!!" Ratchet's eyes widened, "Uh-oh." The ship _was_ growing closer at alarming speeds. The lombax charge-booted to the side to avoid the vessel. Apparently, it chose the exact spot where Ratchet was, to land.

The ship looked like a slight copy of Qwark's shuttle, though bigger and wider. Its surface had a dodger blue colour. Missile launchers clung to the underside of the ship's wings. A slot for a gatling gun rested underneath the vessel's bulbous nose. A set of laser rifles rested on either side of the cockpit's reflective glass. At the ship's rear, there were three thrusters, arranged in a triangle formation, which powered down, their flames diminishing.

"Seems kinda familiar," Ratchet uttered to himself, rubbing his chin. He was referring to the blatant 'L' logo on the ship's sides and wings. It was designed like an atom.

A door-ramp opened on the ship's side with a mechanical hiss. Five figures stepped out in a neat line.

"Ah-ha!" the first figure exclaimed when he saw Ratchet. "I thought I saw you standing in the snow."

"…..uhm…," Ratchet didn't quite know what to say.

The man that stood before him stretched to the exact same height as Qwark. He had a thin build, with partially muscular biceps. It was difficult to tell the person's age, because the only exposed parts of his body where his mouth, pointy nose, blue eyes, and cleft chin. The rest of his body was covered by blue tights. Grey boots stretched from his feet to his knees. A yellow utility belt clung to his waist. An antenna bounced on his head as he trudged though the snow towards Ratchet. An atom-esque 'L' was emblemized in the centre of his chest.

_'I didn't know Qwark had a clone," _Ratchet thought.

"It's an honour to meet you, Ratchet!" the man held a gloved hand out to shake the lombax's.

"Nice…to meet you, too," Ratchet shook his hand. "Are you responsible for destroying the base?"

"Correct!" the man declared, raising a finger. "Our sources said that Professor Brain was planning something big for the galaxy, something like a doomsday weapon, I think," he explained, echoing what Qwark had said before. "So," he gestured, "we flew over here, and destroyed it!"

"Whoa, that's some coincidence," Ratchet put his fists on his hips. "I so happen to have come here for that exact same reason," he said, leaving out the part that Qwark had given him, the Captain of the Starship Phoenix, the task.

The stranger's antenna drooped to the side. He gave an apologetic look, "Oh, I'm so sorry, Ratchet. Had we known that you were coming here for that cause," he rubbed his chin, "we'd have let you come along with us. Oh well!" he threw his arms up in a shrug, "plenty of villains out there to stop, right?"

"I guess," Ratchet was beginning to feel more comfortable with the stranger. This allowed him to ask, "Who are you?"

The man smiled, "We haven't introduced ourselves yet, have we?" he flicked his nose with his thump.

He stepped aside, so Ratchet could see the other four people, who had been silent thus far.

The man in blue spoke again, "Please," he held an arm out towards the group of four, "say 'hello' to--!!"

The person farthest to the left stepped forward before the man could finish calling its name. This made Ratchet assume that they had actually _practiced _this. The other three people stood still, awaiting their 'turn'.

"--W3RM!!" the man finished.

The first guy had a red designs all over his armour. His bare arms stretched to what looked like boxing gloves. A serpent-like head stood atop the armour's neck-hole. The colour was white along the front of the neck, and green everywhere else. Two green, tusk-like protrusions hung from either side of the creature's flat head. A set of sharp fins clung to the back of the creature's neck. He scanned Ratchet with square-shaped eyes that possessed cross-shaped pupils, and were constantly changing colour from red to yellow. A sharp, green spike stuck out from the back of his hands and feet. There seemed to be a jet-pack attached his armour. He stood slightly taller than Ratchet. The 'L' symbol was present on the chest plate.

"Conceived," the man in blue went on, "by a dragon and a slug--don't ask--our netspeaking member here has a formidable arsenal and a mean temper to boot!"

"nice 2 meet u, rachet," W3RM greeted, his thin mouth barely moving under his eyes. The voice that came out sounded like a raspy, nasal-sounding hiss. "i leik teh earmuffs," he complemented.

"Uhhh……thanks," Ratchet responded, realising that he was still wearing the earmuffs Skidd had given him. "Nice to meet you, t--"

"kthxbai," W3RM stepped back, and allowed the second person to approach the lombax.

The second person to move towards Ratchet was a lombax with a mess of red hair falling all over his forehead. A portion of his left ear was missing, and looked as if it was bitten clear off. He wore a pair of spectacles in front of his orange eyes. He was attired with a long, fully-buttoned white lab coat that hung above his boots. The lab coat had dozens of pens sticking out from its breast pocket. The man's right hand was gloved, and his left was bare. A blue scarf was wrapped around his neck to protect him from the cold. The 'L' symbol could be seen on the breast pocket.

"And this one," the man in blue began, "is Lee!"

"Hey," 'Lee' greeted with a smile and a wave of his bare hand. "It's pleasant to make you acquaintance, Mr. Ratchet," he said with a soft British accent.

'Qwark's clone' started on cue, "Lee here is the brains of the group. He equips us with the latest in Gadgetron merchandise, AND his own inventions. He's also quite good with hacking."

"Trespassers, infiltrators, and hackers are my specialty," stated Lee with a swish of his fist.

After Lee stepped back, the third person approached. This one was a robot designed to look like a woman--a very attractive and busty woman, to be more precise. She wore a red robe that hung loose to reveal her ample bosom. The robe was short, and reached her hips, and was wrapped around her waist with a pink sash. Her metallic skin had a platinum colour to it. She examined Ratchet with cobalt eyes, and smiled angelically. She wore tight, tight……._tight_ denim shorts that barely reached the first quarter of her thighs. The wristbands she wore were black. She had bouncy, dirty-blonde hair that reached her waist. She walked towards Ratchet with a pair of satin boots. A little mole was under the right side of her mouth. An armband present on her left bicep held the 'L' symbol.

Ratchet found himself standing at the exact same height as the woman's large bust, much to his embarrassment. He tried to look up and give eye-contact.

"This here," the man gestured, "is the lovely Megan Matsumoto. She specialises in close-combat, acrobatics, and…," he paused before adding coyly with a wiggle of his eyebrows, "…seduction."

"Bonjour, Monsieur Ratchet," Megan greeted in French, despite her obvious Japanese surname. "Tu est loo-ooking very…erm…bien today."

"Uhhh….thanks," Ratchet responded, having hardly understood what the attractive woman said. The beautiful smile he received resulted in him sweating--and it wasn't the earmuffs.

And speaking of earmuffs, "Thoze…," she pointed at them with a slender finger, "are de most…mignon things I 'ave evar seen."

"Uhh, th-thanks," Ratchet stuttered to repeat, realising that the phrase was getting rather old. He tried in vain to hide the blush that was covering his entire face.

"Okay, Megan," the stranger gently urged her aside, "I think you'd better leave before his head explodes."

"wich 1?" W3RM asked perversely. "LOLZ!!"

"Don't worry," the stranger placed a comforting hand on Ratchet's shoulder, "she did the same thing to Lee when they first met."

Lee nodded, "It's true. I passed out from the nosebleed that followed."

Ratchet raised a curious eyebrow.

"Ahem," the stranger cleared his throat. "And, finally, we have--"

"HAAAAAAAAAWWW-DEEEEEEEEEEEEE-DOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"

"Dah!!!" Ratchet leaped backwards as the fifth person crossed the distance from the ship and was suddenly staring him right in the face. "What the Hell?!"

The guy that stood before him was a reptilian local from the Planet Snivelak of the Bogon Galaxy. The green-skinned lizard stood wearing nothing but an old pair of dark green overalls and a straw hat. His wide, red eyes darted from left to right, loosening some crust. A banjo hung from the man's back by a sling. The 'L' symbol was present on the kangaroo-styled pocket of his overalls.

"Naas ta' meetcha, Ratchet!" he greeted in a stereotypical hillbilly accent. "Mah name's Cletus. Pleasure'z all mine," he grabbed Ratchet's hand and shook him up and down.

"Nice-to-meet-you-too!" Ratchet became a blur, his entire body moving up and down. Cletus released his hand before he could rip it off.

"Shucks, kee-yid!" the hick blurted, his Adam's apple doing the cancan, "sorry 'bout that. Some tams, Ah git a li'l carried away, is all."

"It's……fine," Ratchet rubbed his partially-dislocated arm. He grimaced when he found a wad of grease on the hand Cletus had shaken, "…ew."

The man in blue took this moment as his cue to step in and explain the ever-crazy Cletus' role in his team. "Cletus here is our mechanic, tracker, and chef. Mmmm," he licked his lips and mused dreamily, "he sure makes good swamp fly soup."

"'Swamp fly soup'?!" Ratchet's made a face.

"That's not all Ah can do!!" Cletus hollered. The hillbilly grabbed his banjo from behind, held it as if ready to play, snorted, hocked a massive loogie, and grinned like an idiot with shiny jagged teeth, "Ah'm mighty fine with tha banjo! Uh-yuck! Spiffy, in'nit?"

"Well," the man in blue pompously shoved Cletus aside, "that's all of us."

"Except for you," Ratchet said pointed at the costumed man, who had yet to be named.

The man smirked. His face seemed to glow when he struck a pose by flexing one bicep, "I am the defender of the weak!"

He saluted.

"The patriotic protector with plenty of passion!" he alliterated.

He struck another pose with one leg frozen in a high-kick.

"The acrobatic artist with an arsenal of armaments!"

He stood with both fists on his hips, arching his back to exhibit the 'L' on his chest.

"I am Captain Lepton! And--" he winked at the other four members of his group, giving them the signal to strike poses of their own.

The five stood with W3RM and Cletus on the right sticking their armoured/greasy fists out, Lee and Megan on the left--one casually adjusting his spectacles, and the other winking sexily--and Captain Lepton in the middle with his hands on his hips.

"--we are," he went on, "the L-FORCE!!!!!" Fireworks flew out from nowhere behind them, simply for the sake of image.

"……………," Ratchet took a moment to survey the group and replace his wide-open dropped jaw, "There must be at least three different copyright laws broken here."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Well, that's done. I'd like to know what everyone thinks. Review, please! 


	2. Ready For Action

**Author's Note: **Good Lord, this chapter took me forever, probably cuz it's just random talk and no action. My bad.

Enjoy this chapter; the next one will have a kickass fight scene. Huzzah!

* * *

**CHAPTER 2: READY FOR ACTION**

"Hello, Cap'n," a ranger greeted.

"…hey," Ratchet responded flatly.

The lombax strolled into the Starship Phoenix's cafeteria, his ears no longer wearing the earmuffs. He had been to the Bridge and was told by a ranger that Qwark and the rest of the Q-Force were having their lunch break.

The L-Force had repaired his ship, despite Ratchet's polite protests; he didn't want to trouble them, and simply requested calling a ranger dropship via the L-Force's radio. But, they were persistent. On the way back to the Phoenix, the lombax contacted Clank to tell him to wait a little bit longer; he hadn't forgotten that he was supposed to meet his little robot friend.

Ratchet's eyes scanned the many tables full of Phoenix employees, searching for Qwark to tell him how his 'mission' went. Within seconds, he spotted the table the Q-Force was occupying.

Skidd was about to finish a story he was telling his team-mates. "So I was all like, 'Dude!' and he went, 'No way!', but then both of us were all, "Duuuuuuuuuude'." He took a bite from his sandwich, and spoke with fragments of ham falling out, "Cool, huh?"

"Very……insightful, Skidd," Al responded, obviously put off by Skidd's eating habits. He reached for his lunch, only to touch a bare plastic plate. The sound of munching caused him to look to the side, where Skrunch was currently wolfing down the techno genius' burger. "Confound it! I may be a cybrog, but I still require my nutrients!"

Skrunch shrugged, and gestured regurgitating the food back out by poking his uvula.

"On second thought," the organic part of Al's face twisted in disgust, "I'm not hungry anymore."

"So," Qwark pondered, head resting on his hand, "how do you think Ratchet's doing?"

"He'z probably fighting throo de base with his silly toys!" Helga blurted. "That li'l weiner needz to learn to fight with hiz bare fists!!!" she swung her fist around for emphasis.

"Probably," Qwark replied. He suddenly brightened when he noticed, "Ratchet! So pleasant to see you back so soon," he smiled at the lombax across the table and asked, "how come you're back so early? Al says you'd only have the job 25 percent done so far."

"24.6 percent, to be precise," Al said nerdishly, shaking his calculator.

Qwark rested his head on the back of his hands and leaned forward, "So, what happened?"

Ratchet took a deep breath and started, "A few seconds after I stepped out of my ship, the base suddenly exploded."

"Wicked," Skidd commented.

"Yeah--Then, I saw this big, blue ship coming towards me." He gave Qwark an honest look, "It looked a little like your shuttle."

"Oh really?" Qwark inclined his masked head to the side. Skrunch mimicked the motion, atop the man's shoulder.

Ratchet nodded, "Five people walked out of the ship. They claimed to be members of some sort of superhero group."

"Odd," Al commented, polishing his glasses with a piece of cloth, "another group of heroes?"

"Pfft," Helga spat, "copycats!"

"They had a leader," Ratchet went on. He was rubbing his forehead with his fingers, "What was his name….?"

Qwark was looking at the lombax intently, awaiting the name of the leader of the unknown group. There was a twitch in his eye that gave the impression that he didn't want to hear a certain name. The man was beginning to sweat, and Ratchet was the only one who hadn't noticed.

"Let's see," Ratchet counted on his fingers, "there was W3RM….Lee…Meg…..Cletus….and….."

The fact that Ratchet couldn't remember the name of a person he had met just a few minutes ago was as tantalising to him as it was to Qwark.

"Oh!" his ears perked up as he raised a gloved finger, "He was called Captain Lepton!"

Qwark's eyes widened, "You have GOT to be kidding me!!!"

"Y'know 'im, dude?" Skidd inquired.

Qwark leaned all the way over the table. Skrunch fell off his perch with the sudden movement. Qwark looked the lombax right in the eye and said, "Please tell me that wasn't his name."

Ratchet gave Qwark a curious look. He shook his head, "Nope; that's what he said his name was."

Qwark stood back. "Was he about this high?" he flattened his hand at eye-level.

Ratchet nodded, "Yup."

"Blue tights and dimple chin???"

"Uh-huh. But why do you--?"

"Did he have a big 'L' on his chest?"

"Yessssss," Ratchet responded irritably. "What's the problem?"

"It can't be," Qwark placed both hands on his head. "It shouldn't….."

Al stood up slowly, "What's the matter, Captain?"

"Joo having sum kind ov seizure, or sumting?" Helga placed her hands on her hips demandingly.

Qwark did what any other superhero would do in such a situation. He got down on his knees, spread his arms out wide, looked up towards the heavens, and screamed loudly.

"NOOOOOOOOOO-OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!"

* * *

Somewhere across the galaxy… 

"……….. Huh? Did you hear something, Lawrence?"

"No, I didn't hear anything, sir."

* * *

The rest of the Phoenix staff stared at Qwark for three seconds, before continuing with whatever they were doing. 

"What is your problem, Qwark??" Ratchet hissed. "You nearly made my ear drums cave in!"

"I second that," Al was poking his remaining ear to make sure that it still worked.

"Captain Lepton and I used to go to school together," Qwark suddenly told, calming down and taking his seat. It was story time.

Skidd rested his head on his right hand, and looked left at the green-suited man. Helga and Al leaned forward with interest. Skrunch took a seat atop Qwark's shoulder again. Ratchet stood between Al and Helga, and folded his arms impatiently, listening half-heartedly to Qwark's story.

Qwark spoke with anger in his tone. His eyes narrowed in what seemed to be an envious glare. "Lepton always had it out for me," he spat with a clenched fist. "He would constantly to do better than me in _everything_, simply to spite me. English, gym, biology, bullying Young Dr. Nefarious--you name it; he did it."

"Did he have a reason?" asked Al.

Qwark furrowed his brow, "He never told me. When I asked him why he did it, he told me that he had no idea what I was talking about. But I knew he was bluffing. I could see it in his eye that he had some kind of problem with me." He rolled his eyes. "To this day, I never knew why, but I think he was jealous of me, or something."

"He was definitely envious of you, Qwark!" Al exclaimed with a frown. "Why else would he do such a horrible thing?!"

"Dude," Skidd said, "chill. It's not like he stole Qwark's Nintendo."

"He'z just a li'l coward!" Helga cackled, with a swish of her massive gut.

"AND," Qwark raised his voice to gather everyone's attention, "now, he's back; with his own group of superheroes!" he slammed both fists on the tabletop. "Ratchet, did he give his group a name?"

Ratchet nodded, "The L-Force."

**"WHAT?!"** the Q-Force members (including Skrunch) exclaimed with widened eyes.

"No fair, man! That's _our_ name! Not cool!"

"How der dey!"

"How dare they! Copyright infringement, confound it!!!"

"Ack! Aaakkk!!!"

"Figures," Qwark muttered, "Lepton wasn't very original. Always copying my ideas for science projects…and," he tugged his mask, "my fashion sense!"

"Well, that's too bad," Ratchet commented with an uninterested look. "Now, if you'll excuse me," he turned to leave, "I'm gonna meet Clank."

The lombax started walking, but stopped when he noticed an unusual number of rangers and Phoenix personnel gathered round the cafeteria's biggest holovid.

"What's going on…?" Ratchet wondered. Even the Q-Force was taking an interest, its members having put their anguish on hold.

Darla Gratch stood on screen, microphone in hand. She was standing to the far left of the screen, giving the viewers a perfect sight of the bank behind her.

_"This is Darla Gratch reporting live from the Capital City on Planet Marcadia," _her image stated flatly. _"We have just learned that a villain by the name of Russell is robbing the bank behind me," _she gestured at the building._ "Camera footage_ _has shown him bursting in through the roof, knocking out every guard, and making his way to the bank's vault. He has also tied up several hostages, and it can be assumed that he will kill one of them if he feels he needs to."_

The hum of people whispering to each other echoed around the cafeteria.

_"The authorities are present and ready,"_ the camera followed her as she brought several armed Marcadian police ready for action. _"Hopefully, they will dispatch Russell before it's too late." _

She walked back in front of the bank.

_"We'll bring you more coverage soon. Darla Gratch. Channel 64 News,"_ and she signed off.

More mutterings from the Phoenix sounded. All eyes fell on Ratchet.

The lombax's shoulders and ears drooped in a sigh, "Ughhh, duty calls."

He was about to leave, when a large hand was planted on his shoulder. His eyes looked up the green latex, and made contact with Qwark's narrowed eyes.

"No," Qwark intoned, "we'll go."

Ratchet raised an eyebrow, brushing off Qwark's hand from his shoulder, "Excuse me?"

"I said we'll go," Qwark repeated more forcefully, referring to Al, Skidd, Helga, Skrunch, and himself. "We," he jabbed a thumb at himself, "are going to Planet Marcadia to stop Russell."

Al blinked curiously, "We are?"

"Go on, Ratchet," Qwark waved the lombax off nonchalantly. "Go and visit Clank. I'm sure your little friend is getting impatient waiting for you."

"But--" Ratchet began to protest.

"Relax," Qwark asserted. "You're talking to Captain Qwark." He leaned in close so Ratchet could see the determined look on his face, "I can handle this. Trust me."

Ratchet took a deep breath, "Okay, Qwark. I'll organize some rangers for backup. If you need my help, you know my frequency." And he left the cafeteria.

The people began to disperse; all except for the Q-Force.

"Captain!" Al exclaimed hysterically. "What have you done?!"

"We can't fight, Russell, man!" Skidd said with a frown. "I've seen pictures of that guy; not a pretty site!"

"Arr choo insane, Qvark?!" Helga shouted.

"Ooo-ooohh, aakk AAAACK!" Skrunch shook an angry fist.

Qwark quietened them down with a soft raise of his hands. "Haven't you forgotten all the training we've been undergoing recently?!" he gestured with side-spread arms. "Al!" he pointed at the technician, "you've upgraded your bionic parts for attacks, haven't you?"

"Well," Al blushed and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "I _have _perfected my new jetpack recently."

"And what about you, Skidd?' Qwark said to the green border. "You're the best hoverboarder in the galaxy!"

"Don't forget skyboarder, dude!" Skidd pointed.

"And Helga," Qwark mused towards the obese woman. "Besides your," he grinned, "plentiful seductiveness, you're quite strong with those arms of yours, no?"

"Quite true," Helga flexed her robotic arms.

"And Skrunch," Qwark finally pointed at the monkey, "who's gonna stand on my shoulder, like in that videogame?"

The one-eyed monkey grinned.

"See?" Qwark gave everyone an urging look. "The Q-Force can definitely beat this 'Russell', whoever he is." He rubbed his chin in thought, "Perhaps, this act of heroism could show Lepton that I am a good hero, and convince him and move to another galaxy…."

"Alright, Qwark," Al saluted with extreme gusto, "I'm ready to accompany on your mission."

"Same here, dude!" Skidd smirked and gave the 'rock on' sign. "I'm with ya all the way!"

"I am in!" Helga repeatedly fisted her palm. "Let's teach that Russell a lesson!"

"Oo-oohh!" Skrunch gave a thumb's up.

Qwark grinned heroically, and exclaimed, "SUIT UP!!!!"

The Q-Force members collectively exited the cafeteria and then split up towards their own respected quarters.

* * *

Al removed his old lab coat and green undershirt. He made his way to a silver cupboard, opened it, and pulled out his Q-Force attire. 

He proceeded to slip into his black and yellow jumpsuit. The right sleeve had been removed to make room for his robotic arm. After strapping on his boots, he wrapped a bulky utility belt around his fat waist.

He smirked, "Ready for action."

**

* * *

**Skidd tossed his white shirt, blue shorts, and sandals aside. He rummaged through piles of magazines, old pizza, and random clothes, until he found his Q-Force garb. 

Skidd changed into his red and black jumpsuit, and tugged his gloves in place. He clicked his utility belt around his waist, and positioned his red visor on his head. Lastly, he crawled under his bed, and emerged with the latest hoverboard; a Z-9000. The board had a strap, which he used to hang the device from his back.

He smirked, "Go time."

**

* * *

**Having removed her casual clothes, Helga found her old latex costume hanging from a coat rack. 

Helga dressed herself in her black, blue, and orange Q-Force suit. Then, she plastered an eye mask over her solid blue eyes.

Her white face smirked, "Time to bust sum hedz!"

**

* * *

**In his large, banana-ridden cage, Skrunch's one eye blinked happily at the perfectly-shaped tights hanging in front of him. 

The primate slipped into the costume that was reminiscent of Qwark's, minus the legs.

He smirked, "Hee-hee!" turned around, jumped down a chute…

**

* * *

**…came out the other end, and landed on Qwark's left shoulder. The superhero had positioned himself at the right angle, in front of the chute. 

"I was already suited up," he said to himself. He looked at this monkey, "Ready?"

Skrunch gave him the 'Okay' sign.

They left the room.

**

* * *

**The Q-Force members re-grouped in the Phoenix's main hanger. Some dropships were stationed near the exit. Rangers stood near the vessels, awaiting the order to move out. 

"To the shuttle!" Qwark exclaimed, pointing excitedly at the green ship a few yards away.

"I call shotgun!" Skidd said with a jump.

The Q-Force broke into a sprint, with Qwark, Skidd and Skrunch at the front, and Al and Helga far behind. Qwark produced a remote control from his utility belt, and pressed the single button. The ramp at the rear of the shuttle opened and lowered, and everyone filed in.

**

* * *

**Qwark took the driver's seat up front. Skrunch took his right shoulder. Skidd road in the front passenger seat. Al sat in the rear-right, and Helga sat in the rear-left. 

Qwark pressed a button and brought up a computer screen. The screen divided into four, and brought up the images of four different rangers within their dropships.

"This is Captain Qwark," the big-chinned man stated in a forced clear voice. "I'm giving you the all-clear to move out. Follow my shuttle to Marcadia, and then we will proceed to the bank."

_"Which one?"_ the ranger in the top-right screen asked.

"Hmm?" Qwark raised an eyebrow.

_"Which bank are we gonna go to? The Capital City has fifty-seven banks, sir."_

The other rangers nodded in agreement.

"…….ermmm," Qwark faulted. He looked behind him, and whispered, "Which bank?"

"Bank Number Thirty-Two," Al declared with a raised finger. "I noticed it in the background when Darla was giving us the report."

"Bank Number Thirty-Two!" Qwark uttered to the screen.

_"Right-o."_

_"Roger that."_

_"Acknowledged."_

_"Sir, yes, sir!"_

The screen fazed out, and Qwark flipped a switch. The door-ramp closed behind them, as the shuttle began to rise. It then flew through the Phoenix's opening, and through the protective shield. It was flanked by four dropships.

Ratchet had also given the Phoenix the command to set a course for Marcadia, so the trip would be shorter.

"Russell," Al said with a sneer, "say your prayers!"

"Acck-ackck! AAACK!!"

"He's gonna get owned, dudes! By us!"

"We'll tvist him like a wet noodle!"

Qwark gripped the joystick tightly. His eyes narrowed and his lips tightened. "I'll show you, Lepton," it was so soft, not even he could hear it. "You_ and_ your stupid group."

**

* * *

****Author's Note:** Well, that's it for Chapter 2. Sorry it took so long. I kind of lost interest for a few days. Oh well. As I said before, the next chapter will have a kickass fight scene. 


End file.
